Is Beijing stepping up island building in South China Sea after 10-year pause?

China has significantly stepped up its land reclamation activities on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, according to satellite images.

One image, reportedly taken on Monday, suggested that the surface area of Antelope Reef, once a mostly submerged feature in the Paracel Islands, had expanded substantially.

The picture, published on social media by Damien Symon, a researcher with global intelligence research network The Intel Lab, also showed more than 30 vessels, believed to be dredgers and construction support ships, within its lagoon.

It may be the most significant land reclamation project China has undertaken in the South China Sea since it officially announced a halt to such work more than 10 years ago.

The reef is about 400km (250 miles) from Sanya, a port on the southernmost tip of the Chinese island of Hainan, and about 1,000km from Da Nang on the Vietnamese coast.

It is also around 90km away from Woody Island, where China’s administrative hub for the South China Sea is situated.

South China Morning Post